Hazel
by Arreis
Summary: Continuation of the season finale. Reese gets a mysterious new partner from the other end of the payphone. & finds out just how many people know of the machine & how to access it. There's more to the story than just going after Root & saving Finch
1. Chapter 1

"Now your gonna help me get him back."

A payphone began ringing not far off from Reese's right. He made his way over, picking up the receiver before he stopped. He was greeted with the same silence he had answered with. Then in what seemed like an eternity, a response.

"Hiya! Mr. Reese I presume?"

"Yes." Reese answered the women's voice.

"I heard you misplaced my Finchie. No worries I can help you get him back."

ooOOoo

Reese followed the instructions given by the mysterious women on the phone. Twenty minutes later he was standing by the private hangers at the Skyline Airport. Armed of course, he was taking no chances. There was a possibility of help. But the likely scenario, the one he was trained for; was this being a trick by Root. Here was a perfect opportunity to get rid of the only person to look for Finch.

Shortly after his arrival a jet landed and taxied over to the hanger Reese was waiting at. The only passenger on it was a women. She looked very young, mid twenties to early thirties at a guess. Her hair was a long wavy brown. Dressed unlike someone who should be coming off a jet. A simple pair of blue jeans and a black leather jacket covering a band t-shirt. Reese could make out a small pocket knife in her jacket as she walked over.

"Hello Reese. Call me Hazel." She extended her hand to him. Before she could blink he had her against the hanger wall, her own knife hovering over her throat.

"You don't want to introduce yourself as an associate of Root's?" The pilot and steward saw the commotion as they exited the plane and started to rush forward. The women held her hand up stopping them.

"No it's ok. He has every right to question me." Unwavering she addressed Reese. "I can assure you I am not working for Root. I would do nothing to harm Finch. He is family to me." Reese looked in her eyes for a long moment. Searching for a clue to a lie. He slowly let her go.

"I'd like some proof on that." Hazel smiled as he handed the knife back.

"Follow me."

ooOOoo

They took a cab a block away from the library. Once standing in front of the building she began talking to Reese for the first time since the airport.

"This is your base of operations. You come in when Finch calls you with a new number. He gives you any information he has at that moment. And you began intel on the POI."

"POI?" Reese of course knew what POI stood for, but felt he should say something to show he was listening.

"Person of Interest. Now this is of course after Finch has his usual eggs benedicts at the Lyric Diner 3 blocks back the way we came." Instead of walking toward the rear entrance to the library, she started walking right past it. Reese followed warily behind. He lost track on the number of blocks. Silently shocked by how much she continued to tell him. She had information on all their numbers, she knew about his military career, she told him about Finch working in his own company for 17 years; and how Reese had almost blown his cover. She talked about Grace, and the measures Finch took to make sure he stayed away from her. She knew of conversations between Carter or Fusco and Reese that not even Finch overheard.

Reese never interrupted during this walk. He ran the options of how much Root could know. He came to the same conclusion no matter the times he thought it threw .While she may still be a threat; this could not be someone working with Root. But someone with this much information on them was a scary thought to him. Before he knew it they were stopped in front of an apartment. He only noticed because Hazel had suddenly stopped talking. Lost in thoughts staring at the door. He glanced over at her, she looked a bit fearful of the door. Like a bad memory was playing out before her eyes. Hazel shook it off and made her way inside.

Reese made a mental note to get the address to this apartment on the way out. Because this was most defiantly Finch's house. Organized and well furnished, it fit him perfectly. Pictures decorated the living room they had walked into. Many of them were of him and Grace. The rest, were of his mysterious new companion, Hazel.

"Well I guess he hasn't forgotten me." She glanced at the pictures before making her way over to one of the bookshelves. "Just give me a minute here." She pulled a photo album from the shelf and handed it to Reese. Before he could open it she was already making her way out the door. Reese caught up to her again as she hailed a cab. She gave the address to the library as they climbed in.

"Why'd we walk here if you were just going to hail a cab back?"

" I needed time to talk." She answered him promptly then turned to look at the window. The air of talking seemed to have left her. She apparently wasn't one to dwell on a topic or even so much as a space for very long. Reese made it through the first half of the album before making it to the library. It contained pictures of a younger Finch and a child to teen Hazel. Through varies stages of her life; from birthdays to prom.

ooOOoo

"Oh Finchie why would you leave these books like this? You break my heart." Hazel was of course referring to the books that still littered the ground on the first floor. Finch had placed most of the second floor books back on a shelf.

"Why do you call him Finchie?" She laughed at Reese's question.

"I don't know. I've just call him my Finchie sometimes." By now she had made it to his desk. She picked up the book Finch had been currently reading.

"One of my favorites. 'A Land Remembered.'"

"He read all the time."

She glanced at Reese standing beside her at the desk. "Yeah? The Finchie I used to know wouldn't make the time to read a novel."

"What is he to you?"

"… He's my adoptive father."

ooOOoo

**A/N:** So the season finale has been bugging me & I felt like running off with the fandom to tell my own tale for a spell. Haha please let me know what you think. I have quite a bit more written, but I wanted to see if people like the idea so far. This story would be multi-chap. I'll update tomorrow.

~Sierra


	2. Chapter 2

Hazel had been working at Finch's computer for close to three hours without a word. Reese sat across the room, contemplating this new turn of events. He wanted to ask about her knowledge of the machine. Perhaps Finch had taught her everything. Was this his contingency? Whatever the circumstance; if she could help him get Finch back he could care less.

"Reese! Remind me when we get Root to slap her. I want to kill this women just for the hassle. Equal match for Finch, impressive. This is going to take a lot of time and effort." Reese couldn't hide the smirk at her frustration. For someone raised by Finch she certainly had the opposite of the reframed attitude.

"You didn't expect it to be an afternoon effort. Can I help?"

She glared over the monitor before responding. "Yeah I've got something for you to do. Business as usual, here's your new POI."

Reese walked over to receive the picture. A women, with the name and address on the back. He looked back up at Hazel. "Aren't you going to focus everything on finding Finch?"

"Yes. But it's going to take awhile to go through everything. You need something to do; and besides the machine waits for no man."

Reese smiled as he walked away; he was starting to see the resemblance.

ooOOoo

"_Catherine Parsons, 20. Unemployed. No family. Lives off of any current boyfriend." _

"_Any vengeful ex-boyfriends?" _Reese asked as he followed Catherine down the city streets.

"_Probably. Just because you've got the look doesn't mean everyone is an admirer. I'll dig around and see whose paid her bills over the years." _Hazel cut the connection to begin her research. Catherine walked along the busy streets oblivious to the world around her. Headphones blasting some modern pop song. Reese almost had a mind to mute his pairing with her phone. But that would have been a short silence; just after she grabbed a cup of coffee someone approached her. Reese went for his handgun in his jacket, edging slightly closer.

"Miss Parsons right?" Catherine looked a bit surprised at the intrusion of space.

"Y-yes. Why?" The man flashed her a reassuring smile.

"I work for a man called Mr. Flynn. Ever heard of him?" The man gesture to nothing in particular.

"Uh - the name might sound familiar…I suppose."

"Oh come know Miss Parsons! You applied for the modeling position in the magazine Mr. Flynn publishes, remember?" Catherine's face lit up with a smile in realization.

"Yes that's right I did! Is the position still open?"

"Yes it is. That's what I came up to you about."

"Well how did you find me?" The man turned around and pointed to the building across the street.

"Isn't that your apartment?"

"Oh right. I hope you weren't waiting on me long or anything."

"_Anything interesting yet Reese?" _Hazel reestablished the connection.

"_You could say that. How's the search for her ex-boyfriends?"_

"_Complete." _Catherine and the mysterious man continued their conversation. Reese could make out something about meeting for an interview at a later date.

"_Well that was fast."_

"_I like to get work done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Come back in when it's convenient, this list is to long to go over on the phone." _Again she cut the connection with no room for a rebuttal. The mysterious man had ended his conversation and left. Catherine went right back to her music as she entered her apartment complex. Reese couldn't believe how unfazed she was. Did she not find it odd a potential employer would show up at her apartment? No one does that. How could she not realize that he recognized her in a street full of people, as if he'd known her all her life? For now though he concluded her safe enough to leave for a moment. He headed back to the library to look up this Mr. Flynn.

ooOOoo

Upon arriving at the library Reese had Hazel look up Flynn; the ex-boyfriends seemingly forgotten. It took only minutes for her to compile data on the man.

"Robert Flynn, 51. Just as the man claimed at Catherine's apartment; he's a publisher for an up and coming fashion magazine."

"Does he have a criminal history?" Reese asked.

"Hmph, oh yeah. Last year he was the lead suspect in a women trafficking ring." Reese walked over to see the monitors himself.

"What made him a suspect?"

"One of the women who went missing had a roommate that filed a report saying she never came home from an interview for his company. All the women who've gone missing have had one thing in common."

"What's that?" Reese turned his head to face Hazel.

"They all had no family. At least no one who would notice their absence till the next major holiday." She turned to face Reese as well. "He's getting urgent for women. He probably messed up in his research."

"And I guess we can assume Catherine is his next target." Reese mumbled to himself as he headed to his arsenal. A plan forming in his head to get to that meeting point and intercept Flynn. He vaguely noticed Hazel following him to the next room, leaning against the entryway.

"You've forgot to ask why he's never been convicted, and all the charges have been dropped." Reese turned around to give her his attention, so she would continue. "The police had video footage of him and the women who would disappear at local clubs together. They figured he put something in their drink and lead them out of the building. However they could never find any such drugs on his person nor his home. He would be seen without the girl coming back into the club."

"So he could claim he only saw her out."

_"_Right."

"Which means he's got a team."

ooOOoo

A/N: Hey everyone, sorry I didn't get the chance to update yesterday. So 2 chps for the wait :) Just a courtesy, any speech in italic is over the earpieces. Thanks to all those that faved & alerted!

~Sierra


	3. Chapter 3

"So you think Flynn's going to take Catherine tonight?" Hazel asked.

"With all the investigations dying down I believe he'll try tonight. I'll have to get into that club and find a way to get close to him." Reese had begun searching through his arsenal for the weapons he planned to take. He turned around to face Hazel at the sound of an audible sigh. "Something wrong with that plan?"

Hazel shook her head at him. "Nope. I think it'd work just fine; if you were 20 years younger."

"Oh?"

"Middle age man walking into a club. I'm sure Flynn will cozy up to you right away."

"And your solution?" He asked as he concealed a handgun under his coat. Hazel smiled.

"You need a women to replace Catherine as his next target. More specifically you need me."

ooOOoo

The pair arrived at the night club shortly after Catherine was seen walking in from the surveillance cameras. Reese played the role of chauffer and apparently the coat hanger. As soon as they walked into the building Hazel had handed him her purse as she took off her trench coat. Which she then threw into his arms as well. The change in attire was extreme. The cocktail dress she was wearing was borderline criminal in itself. It out flashed what Catherine was wearing and half the people in there. And short enough to set a record. It was a deep emerald that made her now curled hair shine almost a golden brown. Smooth and crisp it showed every curve. The heels must have been at least 4-inches at Reese's guess. Her eyes tipped in favor of green.

"_Something you keep in the closet?" _Reese asked through their earpiece. The music was to loud to try for a normal conversation. Hazel smiled at him as she walked into the throng of people on the dance floor.

"_What? You never keep an outfit for clubbing?"_

Reese ignored the question and began looking through the faces for Catherine's. He found her up front next to the DJ, dancing away. He then brought his attention to the bar where Flynn sat. Alone, thankfully. But he had a bad feeling Catherine would be over shortly.

ooOOoo

Catherine made her way over to the bar after having danced for several songs. Her sights were on the empty seat next to Flynn. Reese was going to warn Hazel, but she appeared out of the crowd as if summoned. She intercepted Catherine right at the bar stool. "Excuse me honey. Why don't you let the adults have a little chit chat?" Hazel flashed her a wide smile.

Catherine looked upset, but did not raise the issue. She walked away peacefully and made her way back to the dance floor. Reese gave Hazel a nod of acknowledgment across the room as they made eye contact. He watched as she took the seat next to Flynn, and listened to the conversation that followed.

"Whose a girl got to kiss to get a drink?" Flynn glanced over at Hazel. He eyed her up and down before breaking into a grin.

"Careful little lady, I might just hold you to that claim."

"Oh confident are we?"

"When a women as gorgeous as you sits down and says the words 'kiss' and 'drink' I'll be anything you want." Hazel just smiled at him and laughed as he ordered them a pair of drinks. After a while they resumed talking.

"Well seeing as you weren't opposed to the bashful type I'm just going to come out and say it. Let's get out of here."

"Oh…and go where?"

"Come find out with me."

"…Alright." They both laughed as they got up from the bar.

"_What are you doing Hazel? The job was to keep Catherine from him, leave the rest to me." _Reese's commanding tone made it's way through her earpiece. She turned her head from Flynn as they walked and whispered her response.

"_You already got Carter on her way here. I want to make sure she has solid evidence."_

Reese made his way out the front and toward the side alley by the club. Hazel and Flynn had taken the clubs' rear exit and would be a small distance from him.

"_Reese?" _Hazel's voice came through barely a whisper. She sounded urgent.

"_It's alright I'm not far from you."_

"_No go back. The bartender."_

"_I don't think now's the time for a drink."_

"_He's in on it Reese. He put something in my drink. That's why they never find anything on Flynn."_

Reese was already running toward the alley. He rounded the corner firearm drawn. Flynn and two other men hovered over the unconscious form of Hazel.

"Put her in the van. She'll make a nice addition to the rest of the stock."

Reese got a shot into Flynn's shoulder before the other men noticed him. One picked up Hazel while the other covered him with gunfire. The trio made it to the van; leaving Reese alone in the alley.

_ooOOoo_


	4. Chapter 4

When Carter arrived she found Reese sitting on the curb of the club. He didn't even acknowledge her existence as she sat down next to him.

"He got away didn't he?"

He nodded his head. "But that's not the only thing he got away with." At her questioning glance he told her about Hazel. He'd never mentioned her until this point. But now he needed all his resources. So he told Carter everything he knew about her so far. She waited till he finished before asking.

"So why'd you let her go in as a decoy."

He looked up at her very sadly. "It wasn't supposed to be dangerous. She didn't even have to interact with Flynn. All she had to do was steer Catherine away."

"Well we'll get her back. And then we'll all get Finch back."

"And if I don't get her back…Finch…" Reese got up to leave as the patrol car sirens could be heard. Carter watched him disappear down the street corner as she phoned Fusco.

ooOOoo

He made his way back to the library. Sitting down at Finch's desk. Much like he would do when he arrived earlier than Finch. He looked around the second floor. It looked like Hazel had set off a paper bomb in here. The glass board used for the current POI was covered layer upon layer with papers. Most of them, in a coded sequence Reese hadn't figured out yet. Every level surface had a folder, or pictures of people possibly connected to Root. She'd been here for little over a day and had completely taken over the area. Finch would not be happy with the mess Reese thought. He glanced down at the computer monitors; two were running whatever tasks Hazel had left them with. The rest free and waiting to be of use, if Reese could even access them.

"I guess you wouldn't just tell me where they are if I asked?" Reese threw the question out to the computer. Hoping the answer would appear on the screen. Wishing the machine would help him like before. It must have alerted Hazel somehow when Finch went missing, then it was just a matter of Reese making an appearance so she could reach him. After a minute that lasted an eternity Reese sighed heavily as he realized nothing would happen. Back to the old fashioned method of finding someone. He still had Hazel's purse. Usually it was against his policy to go through a women's purse, but this was an exception.

He dumped the contents onto the desk. The first thing to attract his attention was Hazel's knife. His heart sank as he learned she didn't have it on her. He reached for the neatly folded papers next. It was a picture of Flynn with a few notes scribbled on the back. He read numbers that he recognized as coordinates. He phoned Fusco.

"Fusco I need you to look up these coordinates for me."

"Hey sorry. I heard what happened from Carter. Yeah I got you though give me the numbers." Reese relayed the numbers and then hung up. It was time to chase down that bartender.

ooOOoo

Ryan Park was his name, and he worked the midnight shift. Reese found out from the club owner with the help of his fake U.S. Marshal badge. So he waited patiently until Ryan showed up for work. Before he walked into the club Reese grabbed him, dragging him into the side alley.

"Where does he take the women?"

"Woah! Woah man what the hell's your problem?"

Reese pulled his firearm out. "Your problems gonna be a bullet hole if you don't tell me what I want to know." Ryan threw his hands up.

"Ok, ok. Who are you talking about?"

"Robert Flynn; the man who get's you to put drugs in women's drinks."

"Look Flynn just pays me to do that. I don't know what happens to them after that."

"Where can I find him?"

"I don't know. I only see him at the club." Reese's phone began ringing in his jacket pocket. He let Ryan scramble away before answering.

"What Lionel?"

"Well hello to you too. Listen those coordinates you gave me are for the Plus Storage complex. You want me to get Carter and come with you?"

"Thank you Lionel; but I'll handle it." Reese hung up before he heard Fusco's rebuttal.

ooOOoo

"Which one do you think it is?" Fusco asked Carter as they drove into the storage complex.

"Probably the one already busted open, there." Carter motioned to one storage container, the lock looking like it was taken off by explosives. The pair jumped out of the car, cautiously making their way to the container. They were greeted with a room filled with amphetamines.

"Guess this isn't where he keeps the girls." Said Fusco as he examined the white packages stacked to the ceiling.

"No. But I bet we can tie Flynn to these drugs by looking into the records of who rented this container." Carter started to phone the precinct with the discovery as Fusco answered his phone. His conversation was short; and he waited for Carter to finish hers' before relaying the message.

"Hey your not going to believe this. One of those kidnapped girls manages to call 9-1-1. We've got them Carter."

ooOOoo

Reese sat in a small Café in site of Flynn's apartment. Eventually the man had to come back, and when he did; Reese would be waiting. He wouldn't kill him of course. The man wasn't worth the bullet or time. No when he caught him the drugs and kidnapping would be enough to but him away for life. But that didn't mean Reese was going to hand him over without a scratch.

His phone rang just then, interrupting his thoughts. Carter. Probably to let him know they could tie Flynn to the storage container. He answered promptly. "Yes Detective?"

"Is she alright?" Reese's face changed to one of confusion.

"Who?"

"Hazel. You got her didn't you? This looks like your work." Reese stood up from the table. He left money for the coffee as he made his way out the door.

"What are you talking about Carter?"

"Flynn and his men. All five of them, including Flynn we're let's just say roughed up quite a bit. A phone was slipped to one of the girls. None of them are named Hazel though, I've talked to them all. Only one man I know could have taken on those guys single handedly."

"Did they say who did it?"

"No. None of them are saying a word. So is she okay?"

"I'll let you know." Reese hung up as he hailed a cab.

ooOOoo

**A/N: **Hello everyone! Still here are we? Hope I'm not going OOC or anything. Finch will show up eventually, I'm working on that. The next chp is basically complete; just a few things to add to it. So it may be up later today. Thank you to those that reviewed, faved, & alerted!

~Sierra


	5. Chapter 5

Hazel was sitting at Finch's desk, working away on the computer as if she hadn't been missing for nearly 24 hours. Reese entered the space quietly, he doubted she even realized he was there. He glanced over her form for injuries. None were visible besides red knuckles and bruised wrists. She'd changed into her usual attire; most likely the spare set she brought to the library. He cleared his throat as he walked over to sit at his chair across from the desk.

"You could have called." Hazel glanced up at him. She then took her phone out of her pocket, the screen was cracked spider-web like.

"It broke in the scuffle and I conveniently forgot. It's good you reminded me though." She removed the memory card from the broken phone and pulled out a new one from one of the desk draws.

"Why didn't you wait for the police?" Reese asked as she placed the memory card into the new phone.

"Oh I'm not one for meet and greets with the police. Even if Carter and Fusco know of me now." Reese turned his head questioningly.

"How do you know I told them about you?" Hazel smiled at his question.

"The machine informed me. I took the liberty of catching up on events in my absence."

"Are you going to tell me how you managed to take out six men?"

"Nah. I'll leave that for you to figure out on your own. Give you something to do while I'm away." She stood from the chair putting on her coat. Reese stood up as well.

"Away?"

"Yes. It won't be for a day or two. I have some business to take care of back home. Take the time to play chess with your friend, go through Finch's apartment, or I can give you another number if you like. Doesn't matter to me." The pair walked out of the library and were in a cab before Reese continued the conversation.

"It's not another number your going to try and handle on your own is it?" Hazel laughed before answering.

"No. I have something to take care of. And I told you go back for the bartender. I could have handled it."

"I think Finch would have disagreed on that move." Her smile faded and she began to twirl her phone in her hands.

"Yeah I've been meaning to mention." A long pause as Reese stared at her before she continued. "When we find Finchie…You can't tell him about me. You can tell him you have your methods of finding people, or you called in a favor. Make up whatever you like."

"Why can't Finch know; don't you want to see him?" Hazel looked up at Reese.

"Why do you think he's never mentioned me?"

"He's a very private man."

"Who thinks I'm dead." By now the pair had arrived at the airport and were walking toward the jet Hazel had originally arrived in. Reese knew her well enough at this point to realize that was all the information she was going to give on the topic. He watched the jet take off before heading to Finch's apartment. He wasn't just going to search for Finch's secrets, but for Hazel's as well.

ooOOoo

Reese entered Finch's apartment with a bit of hesitation. He knew full well Finch would not appreciate the intrusion to his personal life. But then again; this probably wasn't the only apartment he owned. Merely the one Hazel and he had previously shared. The kitchen was reasonably stocked, suggesting he still resided here at times. Reese proceeded to the bedroom; checking the typical place. Underneath. He found nothing under the bed. Not even stray shoes. He then remembered Finch asking him where people hid things once. He smirked at the memory, so Finch was going to be a-typical.

After close to an hour of searching Reese was getting a bit frustrated. He looked up and down every inch for a hidden safe, secret compartments in the furniture. All to no avail. In Hazel's room he gained no information as well. It looked to be a normal teens room. Blue walls, dark mahogany furniture, books, clothes. All warped in a mess like someone had packed in a hurry. Why had the room been left this way? It appeared she hadn't come back to the apartment after first bringing him here. An idea suddenly struck him; and grasping for straws. He decided to call Fusco.

He caught up to the portly detective a short time later on the streets. Fusco had brought the Harold Wren files he had dug up earlier.

"Lionel." Reese said as he drew up behind Fusco. Startling him. "Why didn't you tell me Finch had a daughter?"

"Geez! With my diet and you doing that I'll have a heart attack one day." Fusco exclaimed. Reese gave him an unwavering stare. Fusco sighed as he opened the folder so Reese could see the papers. "There's info on a Hazel Wren in here. But it's not a happy ending. You won't like it."

"What happened?" Reese asked as he leafed threw some of the papers with pictures of Hazel on them. He frowned as he recognized them to be police reports.

"Well, our glasses friend adopted her when she was 9." Fusco started.

"From where?" Reese interrupted. Fusco held up a hand.

"Let me get there. She attended some of those upscale schools, you know. High society stuff. Excelled in all of them. Graduated her high school early, and Summa cum laude no less. But she only stayed in New York during school. Every summer she left. Sometimes with, sometimes without Finch for Florida."

"Is that where she's from?"

"It's got to be. Who's crazy enough to visit Florida in summer?" Fusco answered with the rhetorical question.

"What are these police reports about?" Reese held up some of them.

"Yeah those. Guess you could say she was a bit of a thrill seeker. She was caught a few times racing pink slips. Most of those are from speeding tickets though. But Wren here would hire the best attorneys to defend her and get the charges dropped. She never did more than a night in booking a few times. I guess one of those attorneys inspired her because she ended up studying law at the Columbia Law School."

"Not in Programming." Reese questioned. Fusco shook his head.

"No; nothing to do with computers. She was doing well in college. But into her 3rd year of Law she dropped out." Fusco paused to look up at Reese.

"Why?" Reese prompted darkly, feeling he was not going to like the answer.

"You'd have to ask her that. All I know is she left home at 18 to join the military." Fusco tensed as Reese crumbled the folder in his fists.

Reese closed his eyes before asking. "What was she?"

"Uh - pilot. Air Force. She was a helicopter pilot."

"Go on." Reese said as he looked off to glare at someone obviously not there.

"Well as you know that Nathan Ingram guy and our friend Wren supposedly perished in that accident in 2009. She served in the Air-force from 2007-2009. A month after they "perished" she was reassigned to some government building in Vermont."

"Presfield." Reese said absently, his face darkening.

"Yeah how'd you know? Anyway she spent 6 months there before supposedly being 'killed in action.' What I don't get is how? I looked up a picture of this building. It was like an office building, they didn't even have a helicopter pad."

"Presfield is no government office building Fusco. It's an information extraction place."

"What? You mean like torture? Come on we don't do that." He turned to look at Reese.

"There's a lot we don't do below the radar." Reese whispered as he handed Fusco the files back. Fusco paled at the realization. At a loss for words as Reese disappeared down the street.

ooOOoo

**A/N: Sorry everyone for the long wait. Been busy lately. I'm glad people like it so far! Thank you to all who have taken an interest. Especially to those who have reviewed, each one brings a smile to my face & is a confidence boost for me.**

**~Sierra**


	6. Chapter 6

"Tell us who gave you access to the machine." Mark Snow asked Finch from across the interrogation table. The computer genius was handcuffed to a metal chair; looking ragged and extremely tired. But otherwise no physical injuries. He peered at the agent over the rim of his glasses with his usual sharpness.

"What machine?" He asked dumbly for the millionth time. Snow slammed his hand on the table in anger. Causing Finch to flinch at the sound against his will. Apparently not even Root was entirely sure if he created the machine or not. But he hadn't seen her in awhile, not since she handed him over at gunpoint to the C.I.A. They'd questioned him about Reese a few times; but it always came back to "Who gave you access to the machine?" It confused Finch a bit. How bad was their information?

"Enough games _Harold._"He hissed his name like it was revolting. "You have no idea how much trouble your in if you don't give up your source. Tell us where she is right now and you may just get life."

Finch couldn't resist laughing at his threat. They truly were a clueless organization. "I have no idea what your talking about."

Snow glared at him a moment longer before striding from the room. He slammed the door on his way out. Leaving Finch alone for the first time all day. He held his breath as he heard voices on the other side of the door. Listening carefully he could just make out reminisce of "time to move" and "cover blown." He sighed heavily when the voices retreated. Another hiding spot they'd be taking him to. He couldn't figure out why exactly they moved at least three times already. They were looking for someone; but yet running from another. Reese he hoped; he'd find him eventually. But this women they kept on about; baffled him.

ooOOoo

Reese returned to the library after a long walk still fuming with anger. She threw away a promising career for no reason. If he knew where she was right now it would be a serious discussion. This new information just brought up more questions than it answered. Could she be working for the C.I.A. now? They had ways of corrupting good people. A sharp pain in his stomach and leg flared at the thought of getting shot after Carter's betrayal. When she came back he would confront her; on everything. Turning his attention to Finch's desk he found a small note. In neat writing was another number's information, with a small personal note.

_Please keep an eye on him._

_Thanks_

_~Hazel_

The number was a small middle school kid; Nick Dobbins. Feeling it was not pressing since she hadn't given this to him at the airport he phoned Fusco and handed the task off. And just before he hung up an idea came to him.

"_I have a second job for you as well Lionel_."

"_Oh come on_!" The detective whined as he finished writing the kids information down. Reese let his patience hold back his anger at the complaint.

"_I want you to clone Hazel's phone_. _And dig up anymore information you can_."

"_Aren't you better for that job_?" Fusco referred to the phone pairing.

"_She's probably expects that from me. I'm sure she has a close eye on her phone when I'm around. But she hasn't personally met you yet. So there's a chance you could get away with it_."

"_I don't know if we should do that you know_."

"_Fusco I need to know everything she's not telling me. I don't like being kept in the dark_."

"_Yeah well know you know how it feels_."

ooOOoo

The next morning found Reese sitting with his chess friend in the middle of a game when his phone vibrated in his jacket pocket. The caller I.D. flashed Hazel's name. It had been just a little over a day, as she'd claimed.

"Your boss John?" His friend asked him, a smile on his face. He had heard the phone and knew the only caller for Reese was his mysterious boss. Whom he knew he'd leave in an instance for. He could sense Reese was a loyal man. He didn't quite know what he did for a living; but he admired a man who cared for his work.

"Actually boss' daughter." He answered as he took the call. His friend held back a laugh while trying to put on a questioning face. "Back so soon Hazel?"

"Mr. Reese…" Hazel said, in the same manner Finch would before reprimanding him for his methods or snooping.

"Yes Miss Wren?" He expected her to be surprised of knowing Finch's previous alias, and the last name on all her school papers he had found in Finch's apartment. Instead it didn't even seem to register with her.

"How are you with stitches?"

"Stitches?" Reese asked. He received a rather uncharacteristic sharp response.

"I fail to recall a word in the English language that can be confused with the word 'stitches.' That is exactly what I said. Library please half an hour." She hung up before Reese could get another word in.

"Well she's a hard case I'm guessing." The man across from Reese commented. It wasn't a surprise to Reese that he had heard at least part or all of the conversation.

"I couldn't tell you. I have to go though." His friend threw up his hand in a form of goodbye.

"No problem John. We will continue later."

ooOOoo

Reese had just reached the second floor of the library when he came to a sudden stop. He heard Hazel talking to another female. Someone was in the library. He cautiously made his way past the bookshelves till he reached the main room. He had been mistaken, the other women's voice came from one of the computers. Since he had moved closer he realized he recognized the other voice. It was Root. Hazel was in the middle of a video chat with Root herself. He decided to keep himself hidden. Still unsure of trusting Hazel after finding out about her stay at Presfield. 6 months was a long time for them to get to her.

"So I see you found the last hiding spot." Root said.

"Yes. But I seem to have just missed the party."

"Just a step behind and I haven't even found out your name yet. I must be getting sloppy. Care to save me the trouble?"

"My name is of no concern to you. It will just get you into more trouble than your already in, knowing even that much." Hazel waited patiently as Root laughed off her answer before continuing. " Oh Caroline I think you've miscalculated your importance with regards to your employers."

"Who said anything about being hired? I work for no one!"

"You can claim as many times as you like you do it for a challenge. But at the end of the day it's all monetary for people like you. Well to be fair at one point these jobs were for your family in Michigan right? You picked up this modern trade, hoping it'd get you someone. After your father lost his job and your mother left. But now there's no reason to send money since they disowned you. So you work to build your own wealth, but this job you've taken I can assure you is bad for your health." Hazel had rattled off this information like it was on a propter in front of her, never skipping a beat as stutters of "what" and "how" came through Root's end.

"Who are you?"

"I don't like repeating my self. Now, have they got you working on the encryptions as well?"

"What? - No. I -"

"Well that's good news for you; I'd advise you to give up your location. Save me the trouble of tracing it and leave as fast as you can."

Root seemed to regain back some composure at this point. "You think just because you know a few secrets that I'm going to just do as you say? Two can play that game. I'm not going to back down."

Hazel shook her head at the screen, resigning a sign. " I feel kind of sorry for someone like you. I figured you'd have enough sense to know when your out of your league. I would look more into who your working for then for what."

"Hmpf! You have no idea what we have planned."

"Your right. But I'll figure it out eventually." Another voice came from Root's end. It was muffled because of the distance from the microphone, but Reese caught the gist of someone telling Root it was time to move.

"Guess that's my queue."

"Yep. Run to the next hiding spot. I hope your having fun."

"Probably as much as Harold." Root cut the connection. Hazel swiped the keyboard from the desk. It crashed to the floor in two pieces. "Bitch!" Elbows on the desk she put her hands over her face. Reese decided to approach then. His doubt on her motives dissolved, his anger temporarily forgotten. He quietly stepped around the keyboard pieces to stand in front of the desk. He then realized what she'd meant earlier about stitches. A deep gash ran horizontal along her right forearm. Blood had crusted around the irritated wound.

"Did you get that in a struggle searching Miss Turing's house without me?" Hazel lifted her head to look at him.

"No. Just a casualty of my day job."

"Interesting line of work." Reese said as he grabbed medical supplies out of a cabinet.

"It's not usually." Hazel laid her forearm on the desk so Reese could clean the wound. She didn't even flinch as Reese put rubbing alcohol on it. It was then he noticed something else about the wound.

"This was from a gunshot, close range."

Hazel nodded. "Yeah I was a bit slow."

"Like in telling me how much you've found out already. Do you intend to include me in any further plans?"

"What part did you come in at?"

"Party at Root's house."

"So basically the whole conversation."

"Still haven't answered my question. You said you would help me get Finch back, not do it for me. We need to work together."

Hazel brushed her other hand through her hair. "You can say I'm not one for partners."

"I've noticed."

"Well let's just say I'll make an effort to include you, if I find it convenient. Fair enough?"

"Fair enough."

ooOOoo

**A/N**: So….haven't updated in forever. Don't kill me for it I've been getting ready for my college classes. I have actually been writing for my stories, just way ahead of where I'm at. I've been working on the main parts and such. Anyway; I used the name Caroline Turing because that's what Root used in her episode. That's probably fake, but so is her history I made up. I can't wait to see how far off I am when the show comes back on. Slightly longer chapter than normal for the people still reading this story :)

~Sierra


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